Electrical apparatus



July 30, 1968 M. w. ASTON 3,

ELECTR 1'. CAL APPARATUS Filed May 5, 1967 3,395,380 ELECTRICALAPPARATUS Michael William Aston, Knowle, Solihull, England, assignor toJoseph Lucas (Industries) Limited, Birmingham, England, a Britishcompany Filed May 5, 1967, Ser. No. 636,538 3 Claims. (Cl. 339-93)ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Electrical apparatus of the kind including ahollow casing housing an electrical component and an electricalconnector which are interconnected by flexible leads extending through acavity defined by the casing between the connector and the component,wherein the cavity is packed with resilient spherical elements so as toprevent movement of the leads relative to the connector and thecomponent.

This invention relates to electrical apparatus of the kind including ahollow casing, an electrical component housed within part of the casing,an electrical connector secured to the casing, a cavity being defined inthe casing between the component and the connector, and a plurality ofconductive leads electrically interconnecting the component and theconnector, the leads extending through the cavity.

Such apparatus is used, for example, in aircraft, where it is necessaryto electrically interconnect the electrical component and a remotewiring harness, in such a manner that the component is easily detachablefrom the harness for servicing or replacement. For this purpose theconnector is made one part of a plug and socket type connector and itsmating part is secured to the wiring harness of the aircraft. In usevibration to which the apparatus is subject would rapidly fracture theconnections between the leads and the connector and between the leadsand the component. In order to prevent this the leads must be supportedagainst movement relative to the component and connector. It has beenproposed to support the leads by filling the cavity with a liquid resinor other settable substance, but this has the disadvantage that when setthe substance is very difiicult to remove should it be required torepair or replace one of the leads. It has also been proposed to fillthe cavity with a dry granular substance and whilst such a substance canbe readily removed it has been found that in time a granular substancetends to compact, thus leaving parts of the cavity unfilled andpermitting sufficient movements of the leads to cause difficulty.

According to the invention in electrical apparatus of the kind specifiedthe cavity is packed with resilient spherical elements to preventmovement of said leads relative to the component and the connector.

Although the invention is simple, it provides an extremely effectivesolution to a problem which has never before been solved in asatisfactory manner.

The accompanying drawing is a sectional view of an electric drivemechanism illustrating one example of the invention.

Referring to the drawing there is provided a two-part United StatesPatent 3,395,380 Patented July 30, 1968 casing 10, 11 the part 10 ofwhich houses an electric motor 12 which drives a gearbox 13 through afeedback control 14, the control 14 modifying the action of the gearboxin accordance with the position of a component operated by the outputshaft of the gearbox.

The part 11 of the casing houses an electrical connector 15, a cavity 16being defined between the connector 15 and the motor 12. Electricalconnections to the motor 12 and the control 14 are made from externalelectrical circuits through the connector 15 by way of flexible leads 17which extend through the cavity 16.

The respective ends of the leads 17 are soldered to terminals 18 on theconnector 15 and the motor 12 and control 14 respectively, and in orderto support the leads 17 against vibration, which would eventually resultin fracturing of the soldered connections, the cavity 16 is packed withresilient spherical elements 19. The elements 19 are preferably formedfrom an elastomeric material the hardness of which falls with a hardnessrange of 5085 International Rubber hardness degrees, and are effectivein preventing movement of the leads 17 relative to the remainder of theassembly while permitting expansion of the assembly due to rises in theambient temperature.

The connector 15 is part of a plug and socket connector and the matingpart of the plug and socket connector is connected to the wiring harnessof the installation with which the motor 12, the gearbox 13- and thecontrol 14 are associated, so that when the two parts of the plug andsocket connector are interengaged the correct electrical connections aremade to the motor 12, the gearbox 13, and the control 14,

Having thus described my invention What I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. Electrical apparatus of the kind having a hollow casing with spaced,elongated electrical leads therein, wherein the casing is packed withresilient spherical elements to prevent deleterious movement of saidleads in said casing.

2. Electrical apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said resilientspherical elements are formed from an elastomeric material the hardnessof which fall within the range 50-85 International Rubber hardnessdegrees.

3. Electrical apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said casingcontains an electrical component and an electrical connector, said leadsare flexible and extend through a cavity between said component and saidconnector defined by said casing, and said elements are packed in saidcavity.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,642,517 9/1927 Taylor 339-931,860,156 5/1932 Pailin 339259 X 2,036,068 3/1936 Montsinger 174-118 X2,131,987 10/1938 Studt et a1. 174-118 X 3,181,105 4/1965 Roach et a1339-103 X FOREIGN PATENTS 545,422 France.

RICHARD E. MOORE, Primary Examiner.

